Nunawading Toyota in Melbourne may well be able to lay claim to being the first Australian dealership to have a Toyota 86 on their forecourt, as these pics show.
If the Toybaru tickles your fancy we suggest you get in touch with your closest Toyota dealer for the skinny. Even better, if you’re in Melbourne and don’t mind a drive why not find your way to Nunawading and see one for yourself.
BimmerFile brings word that at least one of the mysteries surrounding the engine in BMW’s new F80 M3 has been solved. According to their discussions with former M GmbH chief Ludwig Willisch the next-gen M3 will use an inline six cylinder engine.
Apparently a V6 motor, closely related to the V8 in the current F10 M5, was tested but deemed to be lacking the character and power delivery befitting an M3.
All that’s left to confirm now is the number of turbos Munich will bolt onto its most important M model. There’ll be at least two, no doubt, but will the tri-turbo technology employed in the diesel-powered M Performance engine—which just happens to be a 3.0 litre straight six—make sense on the petrol-powered M3?
[Source: BimmerFile]
When we first saw a link to this video a day or two back we were attracted by the promise of Nico Rosberg and Mika Hakkinen driving the Monaco Grand Prix circuit in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster. A couple of F1 stars on one of motorsport’s most famous tracks; sounds like it could be okay, right?
So you can imagine our distaste when we saw what can only be described as the total shite dished up in this production. We challenge you to watch all 3 minutes and 27 seconds of it.
Worse, is the fact that Mercedes-Benz has been pushing this clip on media portals around the globe. Has anyone associated with Benz they actually watched it? Surely not, they’d be too embarrassed to admit to its existence if they had.
The only positive we can take from the footage is that the Monaco GP is on this weekend. Oh yeah!
Following yesterday’s news concerning Sydney Motorsport Park we can now bring you an onboard lap of the new 4.5km Long Circuit.
V8 Supercar driver Jonathon Webb is at the wheel of a Radical sportscar and the new section of track starts at 1:03 into the clip. The 830m extension to the original Eastern Creek layout takes around 30 seconds for Webb to complete.
[Source: Speedcafe]
The official Aston Martin twitter account brought our attention to this trailer for the next James Bond movie, Skyfall. We figured if you have to have a bit of shameless product placement then what better product than a beautiful Aston sportscar. Things didn’t quite turn out as we expected.
There is one Aston in the clip, but we’re guessing the real Aston Martin eye candy will reveal itself in the full movie. Having said that, we’d have been quite happy to have seen a number of Cynicals in the train scene in this preview instead of the (old) New Beetles.
It seems the latest internet meme sweeping the world is to get into your Lamborghini Gallardo, drive it like a tossbag and see how long it takes until you to spin it around so that you’re facing oncoming traffic.
On the evidence of this video it’s Green 1–Orange nil.
Details on the location and ramifications of this latest clip to come our way are scarce. One detail is pretty clear, though: don’t drive like this on a public road, for any of the obvious reasons that immediately spring to mind.
[Thanks to Pete for the tip]
A new name—Sydney Motorsport Park—and a #12 million dollar works program has turned Eastern Creek Raceway into “a professional, modern, international entertainment destination” according to Glenn Matthews, CEO of the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club.
Most of the upgrades centre around an 830m track extension starting from turn 6 at the south-eastern corner of the track. This has been complemented by improvements to the pitlane facilities and a new branding rollout to announce the new name, including a new website.
The 830m addition has created the 4.5km “Long Circuit” while the original 3.9km “Grand Prix Circuit” can still be used. In addition the track can now be separated into the 2.8km “GP North” and 1.8km “GP South” configurations which will allow two different events to be run at the same time.
Speaking at today’s official opening Glenn Matthews said: “What we have in Sydney Motorsport Park is unique in Sydney, and indeed NSW. It is the only permanent race track in the Sydney basin, and as a result the decision was taken that its name should reflect this.
“There are now four different track configurations, with the ability for the North GP and South GP layouts to operate at the same time, which significantly increases our capacity.”
Already the new layout has secured the return of the V8 Supercars to the track, with an event to be held there in August. Meanwhile, Matthews promised today, “There are some other exciting announcements regarding major events coming very soon too.”
Work is still ongoing for the control tower and pitlane complex that will be used to operate GP South circuit. They’ll be positioned adjacent to turns four and five.
We’ve included a couple of before and (almost) after satellite images below, along with an interview with V8SC driver Jonathon Webb, who was interviewed at today’s opening.
[Source: Sydney Motorsport Park]
UPDATE 24 May: A short video from Sydney Motorsport Park about the launch has been added below.
Those anticipating the Australian launch of the Toyota 86 sportscar were given a boost recently when the car was spotted at Mount Panorama in Bathurst. It’s understood Toyota Australia had the 86 on site to capture promotional images and film a television commercial.
Apparently Toyota reps weren’t too pleased when this car, wearing 8TYSIX numberplates, was photographed.
The 86 is powered by a 147kW 2.0 litre normally aspirated boxer engine. It’s joint development with Subaru has earned the car the nickname of Toybaru.
Subaru will also launch their version of the car, the BRZ, in Australia. Indeed, it’s expected Subaru will launch their car before the Toyota 86. We’re guessing we’ll be seeing official material for both within the next 3–4 weeks.
[Source: Western Advocate | Thanks to Scott for the tip]
Audi won a dramatic 24 hour race at the Nürburgring yesterday. It was the 40th running of the endurance classic, but this was their first win and was capped off in style with a one-two victory.
The race was won by the #3 Team Phoenix Audi R8 LMS ultra, with the #26 Mamerow Racing entry coming home one lap behind.
Ausi has put in a lot of time, effort and money towards winning this race and their faith in the product was displayed by the seven cars entered. Now they have their win Audi is overjoyed. Here’s a selection of comments from post-race:
Dieter Gass (Head of Racing Commitments Audi Sport): “That was an absolutely fantastic race and a great result for Audi. We’ve waited a long time for this victory – today is the day. It was an exciting race from start to finish. On one occasion our leading car became the innocent victim of an accident but we fought back again to the front to take a one-two finish. Really an exciting result for Audi.â€
Werner Frowein (quattro GmbH): “What shall I say? I’m just incredibly happy. My thanks go to our Board Member Michael Dick who made this fantastic project possible. And obviously also a big thank you to the teams and drivers who have all done a fantastic job. We’ve worked hard for years for this victory. It’s just a dream that now even overall victory follows the earlier class wins.â€
Dirk Theimann (Team Manager Audi Sport Team Phoenix): “A great day for Audi and for Phoenix Racing. We have won this race with three different brands, but the win today is the most emotional for us. I dedicate this victory to Werner Frowein because he has always backed this program.â€
We’re still pretty chuffed that Warren Luff was able to take part in the race. It’s a shame his car didn’t make it to the end. We certainly hope it’s not the last time we see an Aussie at the wheel of an Audi factory car at the Ring.
There’s over 150 images from the race for you after the break, sorted in numerical order based on car numbers. Also included is a pair of press releases from Audi Motorsport to complement the photo gallery.
In addition to the Golf GTI Black Dynamic and show stopping Polo R WRC “Street” Volkswagen presented a number of other models at the GTI show in Wörthersee.
Not a lot of detail is given on the cars they brought along. Indeed the Scirocco R Concept Blue on show doesn’t even rate a mention in the official press release. But then this a show that’s all about engaging with the fans and not necessarily one for comprehensive model roll outs.
Perhaps the most notable model on display was the Polo R WRC “Race”, kitted out as though it could start a special stage tomorrow. Powered by a 1.6 litre TSI engine Volkswagen Motorsport say it will reach 100km’h in 4.1 seconds. On tarmac, presumably?
Actually, don’t be surprised if Volkswagen Motorsport makes a cheeky late race debut with its Polo R WRC for an event or two in the 2012 WRC season.
Anyway, check out the info Volkswagen has passed on after the break.
Feast your eyes on this, it’s a Polo R WRC “Street” and it’s packing a 162kW punch thanks to a 2.0 litre TSI engine. Impressive? Almost as impressive as this encouragement from Volkswagen’s teasing press release, which states the road-going model is “due to be launched in late 2013.”
For now the horsepower and engine size is all Volkswagen has given away. Seems pretty clear the engine is a mildly tuned Golf GTI engine, but what we really need to know now is will the Polo R WRC “Street” feature a 4motion all-wheel drive system, and will it offer a manual gearbox?
There’s a handful of other images from Wörthersee after the break. We’ll bring you any new info on this car as soon as we hear it.
The annual “GTI” show is currently underway in Wörthersee, Austria, and nine young VW apprentices have been thrown the keys to a Mk6 Golf GTI and told to go crazy. They’ve come up with the Golf GTI Black Dynamic.
The kids haven’t messed about either, upping power by a whopping 110kW, to a new total of 265kW. Eight-pot brakes up help slow things down in what must be a damn fast GTI. They’ve also chucked in an ear splitting 1800W sound system. All that has been adorned by a custom paint-scheme and interior touches.
It’s a pretty nifty opportunity and trainee automotive mechatronics technician Martin Schmidt was pretty chuffed to be part of the action: “For our team, the GTI Black Dynamic is the high point of our training. The amount that we have learned is incredible, and we have developed our own ideas and implemented them in ‘our’ car. Where else do you get an opportunity like that?â€